


'tis the damn season

by tobealive



Category: The 1975 (Band)
Genre: Blizzards & Snowstorms, But Only a Little Bit - Freeform, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Drug Use, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I suppose, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, M/M, One Shot, Recreational Drug Use, Snow, Snowed In, it's mainly fluff, matty's an escort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:08:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28283727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobealive/pseuds/tobealive
Summary: When George decided to give his parents a surprise visit he didn't exactly expect to get snowed in together with their escort.
Relationships: George Daniel/Matthew Healy
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9





	'tis the damn season

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone :) merry Christmas, happy holidays and if you don't celebrate anything or different holidays simply have a great day.  
> This is my first fic ever I've written in English because I'm actually German and English is not my native language. Therefore it might not be perfect. The lovely @DayDaDahlias proofread this work for me (thank you so much, you're absolutely the best) so the grammar should be fine, but if something sounds off that's why. Should you notice any mistakes feel free to point them out to me so that I can improve.  
> I hope you can enjoy this story and have fun reading!

George tried to press the key into the lock but his hands trembled so much that he kept missing over and over again.

“Fucking shit!” he cursed through his teeth. It was fucking cold outside and he was wet from all the snow that kept falling down.

Finally, he succeeded and unlocked the door. Gratefully, he took the warmth of his parents’ house in. He was still trembling while taking his coat and boots off.

“Mum? Dad?”

Nobody answered when George called out. He looked in the kitchen and nobody seemed to be there. Maybe his parents had gone grocery shopping or something. He’d just have to wait. In the meantime, he could carry his shit into his room. 

George shouldered his duffle bag and quickly grabbed his backpack because he was too lazy to actually put it on his back. With a suppressed groan, he walked up the stairs. This day was really not going according to plan. At first his employer had been a total prat about George’s newest project and told him to go home, which George gladly did. So then he’d decided to extend his Christmas visit at his parents’. But the streets had been disgustingly full with all of the snow chaos outside. Hopefully the weather would get better soon.

George opened the door to his childhood room and immediately knocked some box over that made an awful lot of noise.

“Fucking shit!” He dropped his bags in frustration, so that he could clean up the mess he’d made. Luckily, it was only some old toys his parents most likely had planned to give to charity, so at least he hadn’t broken anything. He quickly scrunched them together and put them back in the box.

“Excuse me?”

George twirled around. In shock, he stared at a young guy with crazy curls, who was standing in the door.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Who are you?” George gave a panicked response. He didn’t have the slightest clue what this stranger was doing in his house and in his mind he raced through every possible escape route or potential weapon.

“Well, I asked first.” The guy deadpanned with a mix of cockiness and apprehension.

“You are in my house though.” George shot back.

“This isn’t your house! This is Anne and Jan Daniel’s house!” The guy’s dark eyes flashed in defence.

“Yeah, and they are my parents,” George pressed out with forced calmness.

“Oh.” The guy looked baffled. “This is about to get awkward then.”

“Why?” George didn’t even try to ban the suspicion from his voice.

“Um… I’m Matty.” He reached his hand out and George grabbed it in confusion.

“George.” It sounded more like a question.

“Nice. Right. I know literally no way around it because I kinda owe you an explanation for why I’m in your house, so I’m just gonna get it out.”

Matty kept rambling on, so George figured that he must be pretty embarrassed.

“I’m an escort,” the young man blurted out.

George simply blinked. He didn’t quite know what to do with that information. Until it sank in.

“Oh my God. Oh my God! Shit, fuck, I’m sorry, no offense to you, but fuck! Does that mean that my mom’s cheating on my dad?” 

Matty looked extremely uncomfortable with the whole situation, which was more than understandable. “Not exactly,” he said hesitantly.

“What do you mean by that?” George could still not think straight.

“Um, look, normally I don’t talk about my clients, because that’s highly unprofessional and against my policy, but I also don’t want you to jump to conclusions.” Matty’s face was red by now, but he obviously tried very hard to stay calm. “Both of your parents hired me.”

George blinked again. “Both of them?”

“Yeah,” Matty clarified.

“So, my dad, too?”

“Yeah.” Matty nodded again.

“That fucking hypocrite!” George yelled out. This made Matty look quite taken aback and George immediately apologized. “I’m really sorry, I’m just kind of mad right now because he hasn’t been too supportive of my coming out and finding out that he’s now paying to fuck a guy is kinda… ironic.” He cringed at his own words.

“Oh, it’s fine. I get it. It’s just a lot to take in.” Matty tried his best to smile but it ended up looking like a grimace. “Look, normally I’d just fuck off, but I kinda need to wait for your parents, because I want my money, so…” He trailed off, unsure what to say next.

“Yeah, no, that’s totally understandable.” George hurried to say. He felt like he’d been rude enough to this poor guy. After all it wasn’t his fault that George’s parents were fucked up.

“Is it okay if I take a shower?”

“Oh yeah, of course. Do you know where the bathroom is?” Matty nodded before he left. He wasn’t wearing more than an oversized shirt and boxers, which kind of added to the whole awkwardness of this situation. George stared after him in astoundment.

“What the actual fuck?” he whispered to himself. That had to be the most uncomfortable thing that had ever happened to him in his whole entire life and he had puked on his first crush.

George could hear the shower running in the distance. Finally, he’d been released from his frozen state of mind. Quickly, he fished his phone from his pocket and pressed the dial for video call.

“Pick up, pick up, pick up!” he quietly enchanted the phone. He definitely needed some emotional support now, because whatever the fuck had just happened was too much for his sanity.

“Georgie!” Ross’s voice greeted him from the phone cheerfully.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“I’ve been traumatized.” George stared down at his mobile with wide eyes.

“How so?” Ross was still laughing.

“This is not funny. I need to sit down. This is seriously fucked up.” He had no idea how you could explain this situation to anyone.

“Mate, are you alright?” Ross actually looked concerned now.

“No, yeah, I mean nobody got hurt or anything, it’s just so super fucking awkward. You know, how I went to my parents, yeah?” George tried his best to calm Ross down, while still getting the news out.

Ross made a sound of agreement.

“And I go up to my room and then there’s this guy standing there and he’s my parents’ escort,” George blurted out.

“What?!” Ross yelled out loud. “Did you just say escort?”

“I did,” George fake-sobbed.

“Oh my God, your parents are getting it on.” Ross laughed in a hollow way.

“I don’t want them to get it on!” George was perfectly aware that he was whining now but he couldn’t care less.

“That is seriously fucked up. It’s the kind of shit you don’t want to know about your parents,” Ross pointed out, even though it was completely unnecessary.

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. And the worst thing is that he’s still here because he needs my parents to come back so that they can pay him.” George groaned.

“Wait, where are your parents?”

“I don’t know, they’re just not here!” George didn’t have it in him to be rational right now.

“And they left the escort alone in their house?”

That made George pause for a minute. “That is admittedly weird. I don’t… I don’t know why they did that.”

“Em, George?” a quiet voice called out from upstairs, which startled George.

“Uh yeah, is everything alright?” George called back in confusion. He just prayed that Matty hadn’t heard any of what he’d been telling Ross because it felt quite inappropriate to share such personal details about someone. His ears burned but he wasn’t quite sure whether it was from shame or panic.

“Wait, is that him?” Ross chimed in with a whisper. George pointedly ignored him. 

“I wanted to know if it’s alright if I come downstairs? Because I heard you talking to someone and I didn’t want to interrupt, in case it’s something important or even if it’s not, it’s still your house and I really didn’t want to interrupt, wait, I already said that, I’m really sorry.” The way Matty sounded actually concerned made George feel even worse. And he was kind of overwhelmed by the shower of words that were leaving Matty’s mouth.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine, of course you can come down.” He forced out in a hurry, in order to calm down his guiltiness.

The taps of feet were to be heard. When George looked up, he saw Matty standing in front of him with ripped black jeans, a black dress shirt and wet hair. He couldn’t help admiring how the fit complimented Matty’s slim figure. Now that he wasn’t as shocked by Matty’s appearance anymore, he also noticed how handsome the escort was. He had a sort of feminine face with pouty lips, a straight nose and dark eyes and brows, but it fit him. There was something unique about his looks.

“Aren’t you cold?” he finally sputtered out, because he felt the need to find a justification for staring at Matty for quite some time.

“Oh no, it’s fine,” Matty responded.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait.” Ross perked up from the screen. “Matty, is that you?”

The question led to Matty lifting his head up and letting his eyes wander, until they landed on George’s phone.

“Ross! Hey, mate, long time no see!” It was like a switch had been pulled in Matty’s mood and he immediately went from awkward and embarrassed to happy and social, while he got closer to George, so that he could take a proper look at Ross.

“What the fuck is going on?” George blurted out. The whole situation was already confusing enough without his best mate apparently knowing his parents’ escort.

“Oh man, this is crazy! Matty and I went to school together. We even were in a band,” Ross explained with a laugh. He looked seriously delighted to see Matty again.

“It’s so good to see you. You look so good. What have you been up to? How are you doing? How’s Hann?” Matty bombarded Ross with a flood of questions.

“I’m good, Hann’s too. How ‘bout you, mate?”

“Likewise. I’m in a good spot right now. Went through some rough patches, fulfilled all the clichés, just what you’d expected of me. I mean just look at me, at what I’m doing. But really, I’m good now, I’m doing alright.” Matty responded. George was both impressed and confused by the speed the other man had while talking.

“I’m really happy to hear that.” It was obvious that Ross genuinely meant that. “I’ll let Hann know; he’ll be really happy to hear from you after all this time.”

George could feel Matty tensing up next to him.

“Yeah, sorry about. Like, I really—I genuinely want to apologize for that. I’m fully aware that that one’s on me. I was being a total shit friend, it’s just—the drugs got a bit out of hand. But I’m really better now.” The words surprised George a bit and he glanced at Matty, who was obviously uncomfortable with the topic. He kept avoiding both Ross’s and George’s eyes and a blush started to appear on his cheeks.

“Matty, we’re really not mad at you. We’re really proud you got better, you know? And maybe we can get back in contact now. I mean this is such a coincidence, maybe it’s fate.” Ross chuckled a bit at that. “George could text me your number or something and then we can talk more, under a bit less awkward circumstances.” George’s friend reassured Matty.

“I’d like that.” The smile on Matty’s lips was only small, but George could tell that it was real.

“Yeah? Take care then. You too, Georgie-Boy. Love you!” Ross dismissed himself with a joyful tone.

“Love you, too.” George mumbled a bit absentmindedly. All of what had happened within the last minutes was way too distressing for him to cope with it right now. He wasn’t entirely sure what to feel or what to think.

“Bye!” Matty called over George’s shoulder before Ross ended the call. As soon as Ross was no longer to be seen on the phone screen, Matty stumbled back and created a distance between George and himself. George was not sure what to make of that.

“That was funny,” George ended up stating awkwardly. He immediately regretted it because he felt like it made everything even more cringeworthy than it already was.

“Yeah,” Matty agreed almost shyly. That sudden change in mood made George wonder if it was something about him that made the other man uncomfortable.

He tried to subtly check Matty out, in order to find out what set him off. His brown eyes looked incredibly sad and he chewed on his bottom lip, which made him look younger than he actually probably was. George felt the sudden urge to comfort him with a hug.

“Are you alright?” he asked softly.

The question seemed to shake Matty out of his thoughts and he smiled at George, but it just ended up looking forced.

“Yeah, thank you.” But his voice sounded raspy and far from fine. “Just a few bad memories resurfacing.”

George was unsure what to say to that, so he decided to go with the emergency solution. “Do you want something to drink? A tea or coffee, maybe?”

“A tea would be nice, thank you.” Matty still sounded timid but George would take what he could.

Happy to have a task to distract him, George immediately jumped up to boil some water and get some mugs from the cupboard.

“The weather’s not looking good,” Matty commented a bit emotionlessly. George looked out of the window and noticed that Matty was right. The snowfall seemed to be neverending at this point. Hopefully it’d stop soon. George really wasn’t in the mood for snow shipping and iced streets.

“Driving here was a true pain in the arse.” George tried to keep the conversation alive. But that made him think of something else. “Hey, em, where exactly did my parents go?”

Matty’s head perked up and he started blushing again. So it was something sex-related then. George innerly shuddered. This day had already taught him way more about his parents’ sex life than he’d even wanted to know.

“They just wanted to, em, get some groceries and stuff from the pharmacy.” Matty ran his hands through his curls.

“And they just left you here?” George couldn’t suppress the astonishment in his voice, even though he’d tried really hard to do just that.

“Em, you know, em, this kind of isn’t our first session so there’s a certain trust basis there. And they also needed some stuff for… you know.” Matty fiddled with his fingers, so that he could avoid looking at George.

“Okay, yeah, no need to elaborate on that. I also didn’t want to make any accusations, so I’m sorry if I offended you. It just seems a bit weird.” George tried to explain. He felt like everything he said to Matty came out as unwantedly rude and insensitive.

“No, I mean it definitely is, so I can understand you there.” Matty still wasn’t meeting his eyes.

“Do you think I should call them up or something? I’m a bit worried with all the snow, you know.” George got out lamely. He could have kicked himself for not being able to make normal conversation with the other man. Usually he wasn’t this socially awkward, but something about Matty just had him at a loss of words.

“That seems to be a good idea,” Matty agreed timidly.

“Right then.” George picked his phone up again and went through his contacts. It took him some to find his mom because he was much too unfocused and glanced up at Matty every three second. The phone beeped three times, before someone answered.

“Hey, mom.” George greeted in a forced cheerful way.

“Oh George, darling, how are you?” The woman on the other end sounded quite joyful to hear from him.

“Yeah um, good, um look mom, I’m getting right to it, because it’s weird, but there’s no way around it.” George was painfully aware of the fact that Matty sat next to him. How did you bring such a delicate topic up without making a complete fool of yourself?

“Is everything alright?” He hated the concern in her voice.

“Yeah. I just wanted to let you know that I’m home, at like your place. I wanted to surprise you.”

“Oh that’s nice of you, sweetie. Did you say you’re already there?” He wasn’t sure whether it was suspicion or suppressed panic in her voice.

“Eh yeah. I’m here. With Matty.” There was a silence on the line.

“With Matty, you said?” His mom sounded a weird mix of alarmed and calm at the same time. It was honestly impressive.

“Yeah, em, can we just discuss this when you’re home? It’s kinda awkward. Matty and I just wanted to know when you’re coming back?” His face was burning up and he couldn’t bring himself to look at Matty.

“Oh, sweetheart we can’t come back. There’s this big snowstorm coming up. They’ve blocked all the roads because it’s too dangerous to drive. We’re staying with some friends in the city, we really didn’t think this would happen when we went here.” His mom explained in a typical concerned-mom-voice.

“Wait, what?” George’s eyes widened in shock, when he heard his mom’s words. His eyes immediately perked up to Matty, who just stared back in confusion.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He really, really did not. He was way too panicked to have a normal conversation right now.

“Oh no, no, mum, it’s fine. I—stay safe, you guys.” He rushed the words out.

“George, are you alright?” Of course his mom didn’t miss his stuttering around.

“Yeah, we’ll figure something out. Bye, mom. I love you.” George hurried to say.

“I love you, too.” George hung up before she could say anything else.

He looked up to see Matty looking at him with wide eyes.

“What is it?” he asked with slight panic in his voice.

“They’re not coming back. There’s a snowstorm.” George’s words sounded concerningly hollow. He felt like God, or the devil, or fate really wanted to screw him over today.

“What? Shit! I need to get going then, before it gets worse.” Matty jumped up.

“You can’t go back. The roads are blocked. And it’s dangerous.” George stated quickly. There was no way in hell Matty could drive home with this weather outside.

“What else am I supposed to do? I can’t stay here now, can I?” Matty snarled. George didn’t take any offense at his tone because he could feel that Matty really was working himself into a state right now.

“Well, you’ll have to. Look, I know that this is uncomfortable, but I don’t want you out on the road, when it’s this dangerous.” George tried his best to calm him down.

Meanwhile Matty was frantically scrolling through his phone. He didn’t seem to have paid any attention to what George had just said.

“Shit, this is shit.” He apparently was looking at the weather forecast. “Are you really okay with me staying here?” He looked up at George with big eyes.

“Yeah, of course. You obviously can’t go out there. Look, this house is big, we’ll manage somehow. I mean this can’t go on for too long now, can it?” George tried to lighten up the mood, but he didn’t even believe himself when he said it.

Matty chuckled, but it ended up sounding a bit desperate.

“So, what should we do then? Should we try to get to know each other a bit? I mean we’ll be stuck together for some time I suppose,” George suggested in hope of distracting Matty from his bad mood.

“I’m not saying that I’m uninterested, but isn’t it a bit pretentious to force it out like this? Doesn’t it kind of take away the whole appeal of getting to know one another? Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually aware that that is how dates work, but I mean this is not a date. On the other hand that’s also not how you get to know your mates, you know what I mean? You get into conversation and just try to create this atmosphere, this flow, and then see if you like a person.” Matty’s shower of words definitely wasn’t the answer George had expected.

“Yeah, sure.” George laughed a bit indecisively. He wasn’t sure whether to take Matty’s words personally or not. They sure seemed to be personal.

“I’m sorry, that was a dickhead thing to say, wasn’t it?” Matty looked actually a bit embarrassed.

“No, I mean you weren’t wrong.” But George’s tone heavily implied that he agreed with that statement.

“I’m sorry, I just get this way sometimes. I know that it pisses a lot of people off. So if I get like that, you just can say something, you know?” Matty was ruffling through his hair again.

“Oh, okay.” George stared at Matty intensively. It definitely seemed to be a big insecurity of his.

“Oh shit, the tea!” George suddenly remembered and perked up. “How do you take yours?”

“Em, milk, no sugar.”

George placed the cup in front of Matty on the couch table.

“Thank you.” Matty smiled at him. It was a pretty smile.

“Do you want to watch something maybe?” Not knowing what else to do, George fiddled with the remote.

“Yeah, sure. But like is it alright if I have a smoke first?” Matty looked a bit sheepish.

Instead of a response George just gifted Matty a wide smile.

***

“Sorry, but we’ll have to smoke out of the window. My parents aren’t too keen on my smoking habits,” George explained sheepishly, after leading Matty to his old room.

“I don’t mind. It makes me feel like I’m thirteen again.” Matty smiled at him.

“You already smoked at thirteen?” George laughed in disbelief.

“When did you start then? You barely seem to be a saint either.” Matty teased him. George felt a sense of relief that they’d overcome the first awkwardness and now could enjoy some banter.

“Fifteen,” he huffed out.

“See, I knew it.” Matty grinned at him with mischief in his eyes.

While laughing, George pulled his bag of tobacco out of his backpack. He got some paper and a filter out and started rolling a cigarette.

“Do you need to bum one?” He asked, while looking at Matty.

“Oh no, it’s alright, I can just get my own stuff.” Matty pointed to the door.

“Nah, it’s fine. But you’ll need to roll your own, because I’m too lazy for that.” George chuckled a bit.

“Well, if that’s all. Thank you.”

While Matty prepared his own fag, George went to the window and opened it. A gust of cold hit him in the face, which he really needed. When he lit his cigarette and finally inhaled, he felt properly relaxed for the first time today.

“Can I borrow your lighter?” Matty asked from the side. Wordlessly, George held the light out for Matty, who grabbed it with a short “thank you.”

Matty sighed, when he took his first drag. “I really needed that right now.”

“Me too.” George snorted. This day really had been something so far.

In the corner of his eye he could see Matty bending down further on the windowsill. Snow was getting caught in his curls. It made George smile.

“What?” Matty snapped, but there was no real bite in it.

“Nothing, you’ve just got snow in your hair,” George explained. He felt a bit stupid that Matty had caught him staring.

“Well, you too.” Matty just laughed at him. George figured he was alright then.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Matty asked. George looked at him in question. “The snow, I mean.”

“Oh. Yes, it is,” George agreed quickly, while scolding himself for being so weird. “So are you looking forward to Christmas then?” he asked in order to keep the conversation alive.

“I mean a bit. I’m definitely happy to see my family again, but it’s also always a bit stressful. And I’ve got to work a lot. You know people get lonely around Christmas.” Matty’s voice trailed off.

“Uh yeah.” George pretended to understand. He hadn’t even considered that aspect yet and now felt weird that he’d asked.

Matty seemed to notice that his answer had offset George and quickly asked, “And you?”

“I mean same. Except for the work part of course.” George’s face felt all hot. He was such an idiot. There’d been absolutely no reason to say that. “But like, I’m glad I get to see my parents and sisters again.”

“That’s nice.” Matty sounded like he very much didn’t mean that. George stubbed his cigarette off against the house wall, literally just so that he didn’t have to face Matty.

“Should we get back inside then? It’s getting a bit cold.” He suggested hesitantly.

“Oh yeah, sure. Thanks for the fag.” Matty smiled halfheartedly.

“Um, no problem.” God, George really was a complete idiot.

***

Afterwards, they had watched Frozen on George’s laptop, because the telly hadn’t been working. There was probably some snow on the satellite dish. The movie had sparked some childlike joy in Matty and he’d even ended up singing along to all songs.

“Great, now I’m in a christmas mood.” Matty laughed when the credits rolled over.

“We could bake some biscuits if you want to,” George suggested. He was glad that Matty had loosened up a little and now obviously felt more comfortable around him. And he was determined to keep that good mood up.

“I have to warn you in advance that I’m not the most talented cook, though.” Matty grinned cheekily.

“Who cares? I doubt that I’m so great at this either,” George reassured him.

While George lifted himself up the coach slowly, Matty practically jumped up.

“Are you still wearing jeans? That must be uncomfortable as fuck,” George noticed.

“Uh yeah, I didn’t exactly bring much with me.” Matty explained himself.

“Wait, let me lend you some clothes.” George offered.

“You don’t have to.” George really should have expected Matty’s refusal. That seemed to be his thing.

“Why should you have to be uncomfortable? Come on, I’ll pick something out and get the baking stuff, while you get changed,” he insisted therefore.

That was how Matty ended up in an oversized jumper and too long joggers and some flour in his hair.

While he danced around the kitchen to some Fleetwood Mac, George tried to cut out the biscuits.

“You’re being a real help here,” George laughed at him.

“Hey, I already tried if the dough tastes good. And I helped mix all of the shit together.” There was a big smile on Matty’s lips that George couldn’t help but reciprocate.

“That’s true, couldn’t have done it without you.” He laughed.

“How long do you think they’re gonna take?” Matty asked with a hint of childlike impatience.

“The recipe says about ten minutes,” George let him know.

“Huh, I thought they’d take longer.” Matty seemed to be in thought, while he sat down on the counter.

“What should we do afterwards? It’s only like five o’clock.” He let his knee jump up and down.

“Watch another movie maybe? Or get dinner ready,” George suggested. He wasn’t really sure either but he desperately wanted to keep Matty’s good mood alive.

“Dinner sounds like a plan; I’m really hungry. What should we do?” So at least he’d caught Matty’s interest then. That made George feel way more satisfied than it probably should.

“Let’s see. But we should probably finish the biscuits first,” George reminded him with a grin. He found it adorable how impatient and easy to distract Matty was.

“Right.” He looked like a child that had been scolded.

“How old are you by the way?” George wanted to know.

“Are you asking because I’m acting like a child?” There was a blush on Matty’s cheeks. “I’m sorry about that.”

“You don’t need to apologize for that. I think it’s adorable, really refreshing.” George’s eyes widened a bit at his own words. Why could he never think before speaking?

“Twenty-seven,” Matty replied to the previous question with a big smile. So George didn’t seem to have crossed a line. “How about you?”

“Oh, I’m twenty-six,” George replied, still a bit on edge.

“When’s your birthday then?” Matty wanted to know. He seemed to be genuinely interested.

“March 23rd.”

“Oh, so you’re an Aries as well. Mine’s April 8th.” Matty grinned at him. At least they could bond over that then.

George could feel Matty’s eyes on him while he shoved the baking tray in the oven.

“We could do pizza,” George suggested then. “We’ve already got all the shit for dough out and my parents have all those canned vegetables in their pantry.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. I’d be happy with literally anything, though. Don’t you think we’re kind of being wasteful?” Matty bit his lip. It looked adorable.

“I’m pretty sure it’s fine. I checked the fridge and pantry.” George calmed him down. “There’s enough shit to get us through a few days.”

***

The biscuits came out as a bit burnt and the pizza ended up being a little undercooked, but neither of them really minded.

“Do you want something to drink? A beer or something?” George still felt slightly weird about playing the host in a house that wasn’t actually his own, especially since Matty and him had developed a sort of a homey atmosphere.

“Do you maybe have wine or something? I don’t really like beer.” Matty seemed embarrassed by his confession. George figured he’d been teased for his taste quite a lot. Men were like that. They even felt attacked by something as simple as somebody’s choice of drink.

“Yeah sure, red or white?” He asked. He really wanted to give Matty the feeling that he didn’t need to be ashamed of who he was.

“Red. If you have that,” Matty hurried to add. “Do you feel a bit bad about raiding your parents’ kitchens? Because I do.” He was chewing on his nails.

“Definitely not. They’ve caused us enough trauma today, we deserve that alcohol.” There was a bitter tone in George’s voice.

Matty replied with a throaty, gritty laugh George couldn’t help joining.

“Right. Can’t argue with that logic.” Matty snorted.

“Is it alright, if we drink straight from the bottle or do you need some fancy glasses?” George grinned.

“Do I look like I’m that classy? We already smoked out of a window, let’s share a bottle now, to get the full teenage experience.” Matty wiggled his eyebrows and George just gave him the in response.

They placed themselves on the couch with their pizza and wine. After scrolling through netflix again, they settled for a romantic comedy, because according to Matty all Christmas movies on netflix were shit. Joyfully, Matty sang and danced along to the soundtrack of “Someone Great” at first, but by the end he was crying on George’s shoulder. George didn’t completely get why someone would cry over that movie, but he embraced Matty in a hug anyway. Seeing Matty cry made George’s heart all soft and achy.

“Are you alright?” he whispered softly. The man in his arms caused him to worry genuinely. It made him feel weirdly protective.

“Yeah, god, yeah.” Matty quickly sat up and furiously wiped at his own eyes. “I’m really sorry, it’s so stupid. I’m sorry, if I crossed any boundaries, I mean you don’t even know me and I’m here, like crying all over you.” His voice trailed off.

“It’s fine, it really is. Come here.” George offered his open arms and Matty sank against him again.

“Thank you.” His voice sounded all squished from being pressed against George’s chest.

“It’s no problem. Should we maybe get ready for bed? You can sleep in one of my sister’s rooms.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Matty replied hesitantly.

“Yeah?” George wanted to know with a soft whisper.

“Yeah.”

***

George jolted up from his sleep. There was definitely something wrong. His eyes had difficulties to focus in the dark. It dawned to him that he was in his parents’ house and a sound had woken him. Matty.

Groggily, he got up while rubbing his yes. He shuffled to Matty’s—originally his sister’s—room and knocked on the door.

It was being opened right away and Matty stared at him with wide eyes. Unlike George he looked like he hadn’t slept all night. He wore his oversized shirt again and had a pair of glasses on his nose.

“Did I wake you?” Matty asked with a whisper. He looked pretty guilty.

“No,” George whispered back, before he realised that there simply was no reason to whisper. They were the only two people in this house and they already were awake. “I mean, yes, but it’s fine. Are you alright?” he asked with his normal voice again. It was rough from the sleep.

“Yes, I am. I just couldn’t sleep. I’m really sorry.” There were dark circles under Matty’s eyes that raised some concern in George.

“Is it because of the strange house or the storm? Is there anything you need?” Even though George had the best intention at mind, his words seemed to make Matty even sadder.

“Uh, no, I mean I really appreciate it, but it’s normal for me. I’ve always been like that. It’s fine, I’ll manage, you can go back to bed.” While Matty tried his best to seem nonchalant, George couldn’t help but notice that something was torturing him.

“But there’s got to be something that helps. What do you usually do? Do you have meds or anything?” George bored further. Surely there had to be some way. That behaviour couldn’t be healthy.

“Yeah, but I don’t like taking them. I’ve got a bit of a bad history with drug addiction. And the pills remind me of that a little too much.” As always when things got uncomfortable, Matty didn’t meet George’s eyes.

“Oh, I’m really sorry about that.” George felt stupid saying that. The words sounded inappropriately hollow but he really meant them.

“Not your fault.” While he mumbled the response, Matty still avoided George’s eyes heavily.

“I don’t know if it’s a stupid question to ask, but do you still smoke? Weed, I mean. Or is that off the tab as well?” George could feel the heat in his face. It was probably a super insensitive thing to ask and he bit his tongue.

“Oh please, I’m no saint.” Matty snorted through his nose. “I’m not snorting coke and shooting heroin anymore, that’s the best I can get. So, are you offering or what?”

“I most definitely am. Come on.” George nodded his head in the direction of his own room.

He quickly switched on the lights and went through his backpack until he found the plastic bag with his grass and some papers. Matty shyly sat down on George’s bed and watched George roll the joint.

“I feel like we’re doing something forbidden here.” Matty giggled.

“Nothing these walls haven’t seen before, believe me.” But George still grinned dirtily. He fiddled with his lighter and finally lit his finished joint. Instead of taking a drag though, he offered the spliff to Matty. The other one immediately brought the joint to his lips and inhaled. Before George could process what was going on, Matty blew the smoke into his face.

“I thought I’d shotgun you, for the teenage sentiment, you know.” He was smiling broadly and George simply had to laugh.

“You dick, come on give me that.” With enjoyment, he took a drag.

“That’s good weed,” Matty commented.

“Mm.” George hummed with his eyes closed.

“Thank you.” The words came out of Matty’s mouth all soft.

George opened his eyes and looked at Matty from the side. He looked pretty with the smoke in his wild curls.

“What for?” he wanted to know. He genuinely believed that Matty shouldn’t thank him so often. There was simply no need for it. Everything George had done for him, he’d done voluntarily because he really liked seeing Matty happy. 

“Staying awake with me. And letting me bum your weed. And just being nice in general. I figured you’d be mad that I, you know, fucked your parents.” Instead of looking at George, Matty took another drag of weed.

“You really did have to bring up that one, huh?” George laughed a bit.

“Sorry.” Matty cringed.

“Again, it’s not your fault. You were just doing your work. And I like you. You’re cool.” George bumped Matty with his shoulder.

“You’re cool, too.” Without much hesitation, Matty rested his head on George’s shoulder.

“Is this okay?”

“It is,” George assured. The truth was that he actually liked it really much. Being close to Matty made him feel all warm on the inside.

“Does it not bother you? That I’m an escort, I mean. Most people get pretty uncomfortable with it.” Matty busied himself with blowing the joke out. So he didn’t like talking about his job.

“Well, I don’t. I have the highest respect for sex workers. I imagine it’s quite hard.” George glanced down at Matty because he wasn’t sure if it’s too invasive.

“It’s not that bad. I’m an escort, not a street whore, you know. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just worse. I can choose and refuse clients. I get paid beforehand. It’s clean, it’s legal. Sometimes it can even be enjoyable.” There was something harsh and yet neutral in Matty’s explanation. It made George wonder about Matty’s occupation.

“Is that why you do it? I mean it’s a quite unusual career path.” He tried his best to make the question sound soft.

“Because I enjoy it? No. No, absolutely not. I don’t enjoy it usually. I just—it’s easy money. When things started getting bad with the drugs, I needed the money and I wasn’t exactly qualified or in the right headspace to do anything else. It was actually quite stupid that I started hooking when my addiction was so bad, it’s so dangerous. I’m lucky that nothing, like major, happened. But yeah when I got sober I still relied on the money and it’s the only thing I ever did and I’m, like, good at. So yeah, I just kept doing it. Easy money, like I said.” The coldness was still apparent in Matty’s voice. It made George’s heart clench a bit.

When George wanted to check on Matty, he noticed that he kept burying his head in George’s shoulder so that he could avoid looking at him. It made George’s heart ache to see him like that.

“Thank you for sharing this with me,” George murmured, while pressing a soft kiss on Matty’s head. He didn’t really think about doing it, because it just felt natural. When he realised what he’d done he froze a bit though, but Matty didn’t seem to mind.

“Thank you for listening and being so understanding.” Matty blew out some smoke. “I really, really appreciate it. You should go to bed, though. I’ll be alright.” He grabbed George’s hand and squeezed it a bit.

“No, let’s pull an all-nighter. You know like itty-bitty teenagers.” George blew out the smoke through his grin. “Don’t be boring.” Contrary to his lighthearted teasing, he really meant that he wanted to stay awake with Matty. He didn’t want to lose the new closeness he’d gotten with Matty.

“Alright then.” Matty jabbed the spliff from George’s hand. “Do we have some more wine?”

***

When George woke up, there was a heavy weight on his chest. Curls were tickling his face.

“Matty, are you awake?” he whispered carefully.

All he got as an answer was a deep groan.

“I’ll take that as a yes then.” George’s soft laugh vibrated against Matty’s skinny body. “Do you want to shower first? I can prepare breakfast in the meantime.”

“You don’t have to, I can do something as well for once.” Matty’s voice was all low and raw from sleeping.

“Oh hush. Come on, get up.” There was a broad smile on George’s lips. Waking up next to Matty had been kind of nice.

“Don’t want to.” Matty just clinged onto George harder. Playfully George pushed at him. But to George’s surprise Matty immediately jumped up and slid away. “I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have, I—”

“Matty,” George cut him off, “it’s seriously fine. You can stop worrying about it. I don’t have a problem with body contact or anything. It’s nice.” He tried his best to make his words sound sincere. He really hated how insecure Matty was around him. “Now, come on, go get in the shower, I’ll make some coffee.”

While the water in the shower was running, George put the coffee machine on and got some cereal out. They’d almost slept until noon, but he figured that breakfast still would be alright.

Absentmindedly he looked out the window, when he realised that something was wrong.

“Oh shit!” he cursed. There was snow covering all of the windows. He immediately checked on the door, but he couldn’t even get it open.

“Is everything alright?” Matty asked, when he came down the stairs.

“We’re snowed in,” George deadpanned. He couldn’t quite believe yet. That had to be just his luck.

“Wait, for real?” There was panic in Matty’s voice.

“Yeah, I couldn’t even open the door.” George felt like hitting his head against the wall. This was really shit.

“No fucking way.” Matty groaned into his hands. “Where is my phone? I need to make some calls.”

George figured that that was a good idea and went to get his own phone. He noticed that he had gotten several texts, as well as a missed call from his mom.

_How’s it going?_ Ross was asking.

George quickly sent a _snowed in w matty, send help_ back.

There was also a text from Adam that said: _why is matty from my highschool fucking your parents???_

With a groan, George just sent a middle finger emoji in response.

The text from his mom was a little longer. _Good morning, sweetheart. Is everything alright? Your dad and I are fine, don’t worry. I hope you and Matty are getting along. Does he feel okay as well? Please text us back, love mom._

George chuckled a bit at the fact that his mom still signed every text, as if he didn’t know it was her. _We’re doing relatively fine, we’re getting along well. We just got snowed in. Do you know how long it will take until we’re free again?_ he texted back.

Then he jumped under the shower quickly, since he was already upstairs. He decided that there was no need to get properly dressed and settled for a jumper and jogging pants combination. When he went downstairs, he found Matty sitting on the breakfast table.

“I hope it’s alright that I already started?” he asked.

“Yeah, of course. I need to do some work stuff later, is that alright with you?” The snow had really crossed all of his plans. But he needed to get some shit done, especially after fighting with his boss.

“Well, obviously. I mean even if it wasn’t, you’d have to do it anyway.” Matty chuckled. “What is it that you do then?”

“Oh, I work for a record label. I help produce some albums mostly.” George tried to downplay his job a little. Usually people got all overly eager when he mentioned his job and squashed him out about artists and potential publishing opportunities. It got very annoying, especially since there wasn’t much George could or wanted to do.

“Wait, really? That is so cool! Anything I might know?” The honest excitement in Matty’s voice made George feel all warm. He was pretty sure that he was blushing. Matty seemed to be actually interested in his work and not in some personal advantages.

“Um, does the Japanese House say anything to you? Or No Rome maybe?” George named two of the more famous artists he worked with.

“Are you kidding me? I love No Rome’s stuff. You produced that? It’s so good.” Matty rambled at high speed.

“Thank you.” Now he was definitely blushing. He could feel it. “I’ll fuck off to the basement then. I mean I’m mostly working on my laptop, but my old kit is still there and a keyboard and a guitar, so yeah, I’ll just go there.” George had absolutely no idea why he’d just said that. There’d been absolutely no reason for it.

But Matty just smiled at him. He looked almost sheepish.

“Could I come watch? No, wait, I’m sorry, that’s probably super weird, I mean it’s like super personal and you surely wouldn’t want me there. I’ll just wait here, sorry.”

George couldn’t help smile at Matty’s rambling. It was really adorable. And it made George feel all warm that Matty was interested in something he did. “No, it’s fine. Come on.”

***

“You are a fucking musical genius!” George laughed in delightment.

“You are!” Matty protested.

They’d spent almost the whole day in the basement, working on one of George’s client’s stuff first and then fucking around with some new stuff for fun.

“That was fucking brilliant. Thank you, you were a real help.” George truly meant it. He’d gotten along with Matty better than with some of the people he worked with. Matty had offered some really useful comments, while providing creative ideas at the same time.

“I had a lot of fun.” Matty smiled at George. He really looked so pretty when he smiled. George could definitely see the appeal of hiring him. Matty was truly attractive with his wild hair and eyes and his pink lips and slim body...

“Come on, let’s make dinner,” George suggested, before he could dwell on the thought. The shame burnt in him. He felt like it was really inappropriate to think about Matty in that way.

While he cooked some pasta, Matty got some wine for them and put music on. The atmosphere was pretty comfortable during dinner and George even lightened some candles for the “Christmas Spirit.”

“This is kind of romantic, isn’t it?” Matty giggled. Then he got up. “Come on, I wanna dance.”

“What?” George stared at him perplexedly.

“I want you to dance with me,” Matty demanded.

“Why?” Neither the music they played nor the living room seemed exactly dance worthy. The last time George had danced had been in some club and obviously the whole atmosphere had been completely different.

“Because I want to! Come on.” George couldn’t refuse Matty’s whining and reluctantly got up. Matty immediately grabbed his hand and pulled himself closer to George’s body.

“You want to slow dance to Radiohead?” George chuckled at him.

“Shut up, it’s perfect.” But there was no bite behind Matty’s words and he just smiled at George. They swayed around the room a bit awkwardly but the closeness was admittedly nice. George could feel Matty’s heart beating against his chest and it made his stomach feel all flattery. That really wasn’t good. He buried his face in Matty’s hair and inhaled the smell, so that he didn’t have to think about it.

“George?” Matty asked against George’s chest.

“Mm?” he hummed in Matty’s curls.

“I really like you.”

George looked down at Matty, who looked at him with big eyes. His heart stopped for a second, when he saw how beautiful and vulnerable Matty looked.

“I really like you too,” George admitted and then he leaned down to kiss him.

Matty immediately reciprocated the kiss and pulled George down to him. Hungrily, he pushed his tongue into George’s mouth, who moaned in response. George tried to maneuver them to the couch and ended up sitting down with Matty in his lap. Matty quickly pulled his shirt and jumper over his head and gave George some seconds to admire the view. With affection George graced his fingers over Matty’s chest tattoo.

“It’s for my Nan. I got it when she died.”

The honesty in Matty’s eyes elicited a warmth in George’s stomach.

“Just—most people want to know,” Matty explained. He looked incredibly vulnerable and George just couldn’t help kissing him softly.

“Thank you for telling me,” he whispered against Matty’s lips, before taking all of him in again. “You’re so beautiful.” 

In response to that, Matty pulled him closer and tugged at George’s jumper until it was off.

“God, you’re so fucking hot. I love your tattoos,” he breathed heavily before kissing George again. But when he started palming George’s dick through his pants George stopped him.

“Wait.”

“Is everything alright?” Matty searched for his eyes in concern. His own were all wide and dark.

“Yes, it’s fucking great. But I don’t think that we should have sex.” George explained his actions. He was a bit out of breath.

“Oh.” There was hurt in Matty’s voice and he shifted away from George.

“No Matty, don’t get me wrong. This is not because you’ve done anything wrong.” George hurried to say. He felt like a complete idiot for screwing their moment up.

“Is it because of my job?” Matty cut him off with a sharp tone.

“What? No, this has nothing to do with anything. Okay, maybe a bit, but only because I don’t want you to feel pressured to do anything. I think we should take things slow. Because I really would like to keep seeing you. I just don’t think we’re there yet. This whole situation is not exactly ideal for someone to meet and I want to see if we work out under other circumstances. If that is alright with you.” George tried his best to pour his true feelings into what he was saying because it was important to him that Matty understood.

To George’s surprise there were tears in Matty’s eyes and they immediately made his heart ache.

“Matty, I’m so so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He wasn’t sure if he should comfort Matty or not. After all he had been the cause for Matty’s tears, which made him feel like complete shit.

“No,” Matty sniffed, “it’s not that. It’s stupid really.” He wiped his eyes in embarrassment. “It’s just that no one has been this thoughtful for me in a long time. And usually people just want to have sex with me and I don’t even know what it’s like anymore, you know, that people just want me for me and not for my body.”

“Come here.” George wrapped his arms around the smaller man. It hurt his heart to see him this upset. “You’re a truly wonderful person. You’re smart and you’re passionate and you’re so full of wit and you’re caring and you’re so, so beautiful, both on the inside and the out. And I’d love to see more of that. And anyone who’s willingly missing out on that is an absolute idiot.”

The only response he got to that was a sob, so he pulled Matty closer to his chest and pressed kisses on his hair and forehead.

***

George startled. Something had woken him. He looked up and stared into his parents’ eyes. In shock, he shook Matty’s shoulder. But Matty didn’t seem to appreciate that very much and groaned in frustration.

“Matty, get up,” George hissed at him. “My parents are here.”

That got Matty going and he immediately sat up, which led to him knocking his head into George’s.

“Good morning,” George’s dad greeted them dryly. 

“Morning,” George pressed out. He wished he’d have something to cover Matty and himself up. Even though they were only shirtless, his parents’ stares made him feel like he’d done something forbidden.

“How about Matty and you get fresh first and then maybe we can talk?” George’s mom suggested.

George immediately accepted the straw and grabbed Matty’s hand to pull him up to the bathroom.

“That was weird,” Matty giggled, as soon as the bathroom door closed behind them.

“That is the understatement of the century.” George exclaimed. He felt like dying from shame and his face was all hot.

“You can shower first, I need to pick up my toothbrush and clothes from my room,” Matty told him.

“Do you need some more clothes?” George had gotten so used to Matty wearing his clothes, that he felt a bit weird about seeing him without them.

“Oh no, it’s fine, I mean I’ll just be driving home.” Even though there was a small smile on Matty’s lips, it didn’t feel quite genuine.

“Are you sure you won’t be uncomfortable? I could just lend you some joggers and you could give them back to me some time.” George tried again. By now he’d gotten used to Matty’s stubbornness. And he also kind of would like to have an excuse that would force Matty to see him again.

“It’s not that long of a drive, I’ll be alright. But thank you.” George knew that Matty had no idea of his inner conflict, but the refusal still stinged a bit.

While Matty was getting out, George brushed his teeth and grabbed a quick shower. When he got out he realised that he’d forgotten to bring any clothes.

“I’m quite enjoying the view,” Matty greeted him, when he got out with just a towel around his hips.

“Fuck off.” But he smiled, when Matty slipped into the bathroom.

George took his time getting dressed and waited until he could hear the door of the bathroom open again.

“You ready?” Matty asked him jokingly.

“Absolutely not.” He genuinely never wanted to have to see his parents again.

“Do you wanna hold my hand?” Matty grinned smugly. George flipped him the finger but took his hand anyway.

“Oh boys, you’re already finished!” George’s mom declared when she saw them coming down the stairs. “I made some coffee.”

“Thanks, mom.” George whispered.

“Thanks, Anne.” Matty proclaimed politely.

George slightly blinked at Matty calling his mom by her first name, but of course he did. Just because he repressed any imagination of what had happened between his parents and Matty, didn’t mean that it didn’t happen.

“So we should probably talk about this then?” George’s dad remarked.

“I mean do we have to? We could just pretend this has never happened,” George suggested halfheartedly.

“George, I understand that this is uncomfortable for you,” his mom started, “but you have to understand that your father and I as adults also have desires—”

“I’m gonna stop you right there,” George interrupted her in mortification. “I don’t want to know about anything that’s happened in this bedroom.”

“But I just want you to understand. Your dad and I were going through a bit of a rough spot and we decided to spice things up a bit with Matty, you know.”

George wasn’t entirely sure how she could just say it like that without dying from shame, but he couldn’t bring himself to meet anyone's eyes at this table.

“About that,” Matty raised his voice. “I think it’d be best if we didn’t continue this arrangement. Not because I didn’t appreciate it or anything but I feel that, em, recent developments would make it awkward.”

George could tell that Matty was struggling to find the right words.

“No, we completely understand and agree,” George’s mum chimed in. “But thank you for everything.”

Matty gave her an appreciative smile.

“I should probably get going then. Before the weather gets worse again. I’ll just grab my bag.” George couldn’t quite tell what the tone in Matty’s voice suggested. It was sort of neutral but in a forced way.

“You’re still getting money from us,” George’s dad reminded him.

“Oh right, I’ll be back in a minute.” Matty smiled at Jan, but there was absolutely no heart in it. His head seemed to be elsewhere.

George stared after Matty, when he got up to get his stuff. He felt his heart ache a bit. He knew he’d get to see Matty again, but he felt some weird sort of loss, after spending so much time with the curly haired man.

Matty and George’s parents gave each other some weird goodbyes and early Christmas wishes, while George stood awkwardly next to them. Anne hugged Matty and almost didn’t stop with the good-byes and good wishes, whereas Jan just shook Matty’s hand shortly. George seriously wondered how those two could have ever had sex, but quickly stopped this train of thought before any unpleasant pictures could appear in his mind.

“I’ll walk you to your car.” George smiled, when his parents had finally fucked off again.

“I swear they’re watching us.” George laughed when him and Matty got outside. Matty chuckled. But both his and George’s laughs sounded fake.

“I mean you’d do the same, wouldn’t you?” Matty tried to joke lightheartedly.

“Absolutely not. I don’t want to know about anyone’s sex life but mine. Especially not about my parents’.” He tried to laugh, but he had to swallow down a lump in his throat when he saw Matty getting his bag into his car.

“I’ll see you again, won’t I?” he blurted out.

Matty looked up at him in surprise. “Of course you will. You’ve got my number, right?”

George nodded.

“Good. Good. Because I want to see you again,” Matty reassured him. “Do you think your parents are still watching?”

“Why?” George furrowed his brows.

Instead of answering, Matty pulled George into a kiss.

“Merry early Christmas,” he whispered against his lips. “Weirdly enough this was the best gift I could have gotten.”

He gave George another one of his dashing smiles. And George couldn’t have agreed more. He’d never thought that getting snowed in with his parents’ escort would have been the best thing that had ever happened to him and yet here he was staring after Matty’s car with butterflies in his stomach. And he couldn’t wait to see him again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I'd love to see what you thought, so please leave a comment if you'd like to.


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